Cascadia
Welcome to Cascadia! This wiki is intended to provide comprehensive coverage of the Cascadian bio-region and its culture, geography, history, politics, economy, and demographics, and to be a resource to support Cascadian independence. Cascadia refers to the bioregion and proposed independent country in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. According to the most extensive definition, Cascadia consists of most of the existing sub-national states/provinces of Washington, British Columbia, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as significant parts of the surrounding states of California, Montana, Alaska and small areas of Nevada, Wyoming, and the Yukon Territory. The region is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the North American Continental Divide to the east, and includes the entirety of every watershed draining into the Pacific Ocean from the Copper River in Alaska south to the Russian River in California. Politically, Cascadia consists of portions of the United States and Canada. Canada is a federal state governed by a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy; the United States is a federal constitutional republic. Various groups are working for the peaceful secession of parts of Cascadia from their respective federal governments, with the goal of establishing an independent state with some form of representative government. Geography Definitions of the region’s boundaries vary, but usually include the area between the Cascade Range and the Pacific Ocean, and some part of the Coast Mountains. Other definitions follow the boundaries of existing subnational entities, and usually include the territory of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, while others also include parts of California, Idaho, Alaska and Yukon. In general, the area in and around the Cascadia region is more commonly referred to as the Pacific Northwest. The area's biomes and ecoregions are distinct from surrounding areas. The resource-rich Salish Sea is shared between British Columbia and Washington, and the Pacific temperate rain forests, comprising the world’s largest temperate rain forest zone, stretch along the coast from Alaska to California. Long united by similar indigenous cultures, Cascadia was once briefly a single political unit, the Oregon Territory, which was jointly administered by the United States and Great Britain. The region has since been divided into different political jurisdictions, but Cascadia still retains a sense of self identity. In his book, Nine Nations of North America, author Joel Garreau claimed that the Pacific Rim region he called Ecotopia had a different culture from that of what he called The Empty Quarter to the east, and was necessarily different economically as well as ecologically. It must be noted that the concept of “Ecotopia,” which is specific in its boundaries, does not identically match that of “Cascadia,” which varies in its definition. (The preceding description of Cascadia is courtesy of the Cascadian Independence Project.) Much of Cascadia is, to this day, untamed wilderness. Cascadia boasts the second highest peak in North America, Mount Logan, as well as the fourth largest river in what is currently the United States, the Columbia River. History The region now known as Cascadia was first inhabited thousands of years ago by Native Americans whose ancestors migrated from Asia via the Bering land bridge in Alaska. European exploration of the area began in the 18th century via sailing ships. Concurrently, trappers, fur traders, and explorers began to find overland routes to Cascadia from the eastern parts of North America. Culture Cascadian culture is an amalgam of various influences, including those of Europe and Asia, as well as of elements of the indigenous cultures that existed prior to large scale European settlement. Demographics Cascadia is home to more than 15 million people, predominantly Caucasians of European ancestry but with significant minority populations of Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans, along with diminished but still impressive numbers of salmon, eagles, grizzly bears, killer whales, and wolves. Politics Cascadian politics is currently dominated by the politics of Canada and the United States. Political Subdivisions *Washington *British Columbia *Oregon *Idaho *Cascadian California (Redwood Coast) *Cascadian Montana (Western Montana) *Cascadian Alaska (Alaska Panhandle) Economy Cascadia boasts an economy that generates more than $650 billion worth of goods and services each year. This would place Cascadia in the top 20 economies of the world if it were counted as an indendent nation. Wiki Policy and Administration *Please note that this project is forgoing a "neutral point of view policy", and articles embrace an open-minded, Pro-Cascadian seccessionist attitude. This project, after all, is built around the Cascadian community and its supporters. *Please keep in mind that any work posted here is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Do not plagiarize. *To experiment with wikiwiki, feel free to use the Sandbox. Please do not experiment on other pages. See also *Cascadia (independence movement) on Wikipedia